All you Macintosh fans out there who are eagerly awaiting Q3Arena might wanna check out version 1.02 of Quake2 for the Mac, which was just released. This new version fixes several old bugs, and improves the mouse code. Thanks to Blue's.

Version 3.0 of NOP, a free real-time ranking and statistical tool for Q3Test has been released. Currently available for Mac, Windows, and Linux systems, this new version features a whole ton of new fixes. Check out the NOP website for more info.

A couple of plan files have been updated today. First is from Graeme Devine:

Ah, grappling hook hoopla V when I read about the hoopla over UT grapple CTF I knew we'd have a similar impact (BTW, believe it or not, there is room for both games in the universe!). The grapple code is still going to be in Q3A (through bot reachability and so forth), it's just not on the maps we're shipping with the product. The CTF maps we have in there are designed for non-grapple use. CTF and grapple are not tied implicitly together.

John Carmack also updated his plan file with some comments on OpenGL programming on the Mac.

We received word that TheGeekNextDoor.com is now offering a way for people to pre-order Q3Arena for a measly $25. Apparently the deal expires in 2 days (on Sept. 30th), so ya might wanna visit their site soon.

Version 1.0 of NameKeeper has been released. NameKeeper is a new program for making those funnames you see in Q3Test. They say that the program is very userfriendly and allows you to change the color very easily. The next version will have animated colored text in it, which actually DOES work in Q3Test. Neat!

As a result of the KOTS Chat Friday night, the King of the Server team has released v4.1 to the KOTS GDS Servers with several changes. Among them include more power cubes, more defense, several fixed bugs, and more. Check out their site for more info.

Want to be a part of an online beta test for a new Q3Arena config builder? Surf on over to the TweeQ3 site, and give it a shot. They're currently in the first phase of testing, and are welcoming all who would like to participate.

I just found this in my mailbox, it's a couple days old but (hopefully) still relevant... version 4.22 of AEstats has been released. New features in this log-file analyzer includes support for a few other games and mods, as well as a fixed Linux bug.

A new version of QBind, "the ultimate quake scripting/config editor", has been released. This new version has some Win98 fixes, as well as Q3Test 1.08 compatibility. Check out their site for more info.

id's Graeme Devine updated his plan file today with news on the Q3Test MOTD, as well as just how many games of Q3Test have been played...

A few of you have asked about the message of the day text. It's giving you your exe startup number since last Monday. So basically, we've had over 2 million Quake 3 Arena
games start worldwide since 9/20/99. That works out to around 4 games every second.

Hey! Today is the last day to qualify for next week's Assimilation Tournament! 1st place in the tournament gets $150, 2nd gets $75, and 3rd gets $50 (all US dollars), coming right out of Mike "WarZone" Smeltzer's own pockets.

The "long overdue" new version of Terror Quake2 has been released. They've released it in both update (12 meg) and full (30 meg) packages, with a whole ton of changes (too many to list here, for sure). Check out their site for the info and files!

sCary over at the Shugashack has posted a quick Q&A with id Software's Graeme Devine, which focuses on Q3Test 1.09 (the next release). Here's one of the items:

Steve: What are the new teamplay enhancements planned for v1.09? (hud, location tags, etc)
Graeme: There's a bunch of new stuff for teamplay. The HUD is perhaps the most changed with teamplay locations and information. The triangle above people's bodies is now for friends, not foes, since it was felt it was too easy to locate foes with the target looming over their heads!

The King of the Server team has scheduled a chat session tomorrow (Friday) night at 9pm EST. They're looking for comments and suggestions about the latest version of KOTS (which was just released a day or two ago). To participate, visit their site and click on the "chat" link.

Yay, I have my internet connection back. I even got to wade thru the backlog of email that was waiting for me, so I should be pretty much up to speed. If you didn't receive a reply to an email that you sent me, then I apologize, it was probably overlooked with all the other mail.

No, I am not dead. Unfortunately, my network connection here at school STILL is. Fortunately, the network techs have appointed 2:00pm tomorrow as the fix-it time, so hopefully I can stop hijacking other people's machines to make updates soon ;)

Thanks much to Blue's for being my news source since I haven't been able to check my email. I put a couple of news items up for today, so scroll down to read more.

Still no luck with the LAN connection. Our tech support division here at school assures me it'll be taken care of "soon". Uh, yeah. Not being able to update (much) or check my email (at all) since Sunday kinda sucks :)

The Shack has word of an email from John Carmack posted, which clears up a few issues or rumors. Firstly, the next release of Q3Test will not contain the skeletal animation system that they've implemented in the Q3Arena engine its self. Also, he states that the next version won't be out for a while, so don't hold your breath :)

I saw over on Blue's that the Assimilation team is planning an IRC release party tonight (should be running now, around 9:30pm EST) to celebrate version 3.0's release. Check out their site for info on the location and other such details.

*sigh* more news whenever I can check my email (still no working network connection).

Sorry for the lack of news yesterday, my connection to our LAN here at school has been dead, so I haven't been able to update (doing it from another dorm room now - thanks Rob :). I'll try to get some news up sometime tonight, thanks!

The Coven has made their Deadlode II Quake2 mod available for purchaseable download via the online store Beyond.com. It'll cost you $10.99 to download the "convenient" 51 MB file, which you can get here.

The word sent along from WhiteFang of the Qoole team is that, despite popular rumor, Qoole isn't quite "dead":

There seems to be news spreading that Qoole is "officially dead". It is NOT. The only thing I said in relation to dead was, and I quote, "Qoole is probably dead until it's time to do Q3 support." I'll admit it's on hold and has been for the past few months. However there are definitely
intentions to continue the project, one way or another. I can't guarantee anything, nor give any time frames at the moment. For the mean time, the latest build of Qoole 99 is being made available publicly as freeware: http://www.qoole.com/Qoole99v097.zip

Tritin Films is proud to announce the release of the movie poster for Quad God. The movie is completed, edited, finished,and waiting on the shelf for free-public release. To view the poster for Quad God's upcoming release, click here. The movie release date is currently set for whenever Quake III: Arena hits the shelves.

The game site known as QuakeStuff has a brand new design. The reason for the design was because it was "difficult to update and cramped." The site is available via www.gedbyrne.demon.co.uk until they find a new host.

A new version of Q3Tweak has been released. Version 1050 includes several new features, like added picture previews, a color name editor, a MaxFPS option, and more. Check out their site for the full changelist, and the files.

John Carmack made a plan file update with info that I'm sure will interest all of you modelers out there: the revelation that they're going to be using a skeletal model system. Here's a brief clip from the update:

The new format is bone based, but it is NOT hierarchial. Each vertex just has an arbitrary weighted list of the bones that influence it. Bones are just 4x3 matricies of floats.

A hierarchial skeleton has some advantages (angles instead of matricies, ability to do IK, etc), but this is a direct and simple replacement for our existing infrastructure that doesn't require any cached state per model instance.

A single .md4 file holds multiple level of detail surface sets, which all share the same bone frames.

There's also an updated worklog posting at the bottom of his update, so you might want to check that out as well.

I saw over on Blue's that the final version of KeyGrip 2 has been released. KeyGrip 2 is a demo editing suite for doctoring up your Quake2 recorded demo files. This final release now supports non-OpenGL video cards, auto-splitting of demos with multiple maps or levels in them, and more. Check out their site for more info.

News over at Quake3.cc is that a new Q3Arena tournament is in the works. The winner of this tourney will receive one of those swanky EverGlide mousepads. The competition will consist mainly of 5-player free-for-all matches. Hit the link there to read more!

The Strange Company has released version 2.5 of their "StrangeSaver" screensaver program. StrangeSaver allows you to play 3D game demos as your Windows screensaver. It currently supports all incarnations of Quake, as well as several other popular 3D shooter games.

id Software's John Carmack has made a plan file update, with his comments on a few things, including the new nVidia graphics card, and the new Apple G4 systems. Here's a clip about the new card:

It is fast. Very, very fast. It has the highest fill rate of any card we have ever tested, has improved image quality over TNT2, and it gives timedemo scores 40% faster than the next closest score with extremely raw beta drivers.

Great, now do I go ahead and order a G400 like I was planning, or do I wait for this new beast? Decisions decisions...

Truegamers.net is a new site which is dedicated to focusing on competition coverage. I'm sure this includes tourneys, LAN events, and other things of that nature. Those of you who are the competitive type might want to pay them a visit :)

Quaker's Domain is a new site that's now up and operational (at a temporary home right now). They're working on starting up an International Quake Association and other such activities, so drop by and check 'em out!

Borderfield Software has released the next version of "Q3A - Total Control", their administration console utility for Q3Arena. As they say, "It contains a FunName editor, a Key Binder, a PK3 Eplorer, a Dialup
Optimizer that can reduce lag with up to 30%, a Server launcher, demo starter and a Config Editor that you can use to tweak your graphics, railgun settings, HUD and much more." Check out their site for more info!